Key Facts:
- Many NDIS participants across Melbourne are paying out of pocket for garden and lawn maintenance that is already fundable under their plan, due to consistently low awareness among participants and plan managers.
- Garden and lawn maintenance is funded under the NDIS as a Core Support within the Assistance with Daily Life category, where a participant’s disability prevents them from completing the task themselves and it creates a safety risk or barrier to independent home access.
- Funded tasks include lawn mowing and edging, pathway clearing, pruning of obstructive shrubs, weeding, mulching, and green waste removal; cosmetic landscaping, plants, soil, tools, and structural work are not covered.
- The current NDIS pricing schedule sets the hourly rate for gardening and yard maintenance at between $54.30 and $65.47 in metropolitan areas, with providers required to itemise services on invoices for plan-managed and self-managed participants.
- Must Have Maintenance, a registered NDIS Home Help Services Provider operating across Melbourne’s eastern and south-eastern suburbs, works with plan managers to document functional barriers clearly, ensuring claims are straightforward to process.
MELBOURNE, Australia – 06 October 2026 – Must Have Maintenance, a Melbourne garden and lawn maintenance company and approved NDIS Home Help Services Provider, says awareness among NDIS participants and plan managers of what outdoor maintenance is fundable under the scheme remains consistently low, and that many participants are paying out of pocket for services their plan already covers.
Garden and lawn maintenance is funded under the NDIS as a Core Support, within the Assistance with Daily Life category, where a participant’s disability prevents them from performing the task themselves and no household member is reasonably available to provide informal support. The test is functional, not aesthetic: the question is whether unmanaged outdoor areas create a safety risk or barrier to the participant’s ability to access and use their home independently. Overgrown lawns that conceal trip hazards, uncleared paths that block wheelchair or mobility aid access, and garden beds that restrict safe movement around a property all meet that test. The NDIS standard for approval is that the support is reasonable and necessary, directly linked to the participant’s disability, and not something a household member can provide.
The funded tasks under the scheme cover the maintenance work most participants need: lawn mowing and edging to keep grass at a safe height, pathway clearing including pruning of low branches and overgrown shrubs that obstruct access routes, basic weeding and mulching to maintain safe garden beds, and green waste removal to keep outdoor areas clear. The NDIS does not fund plants, soil, fertiliser, gardening tools, cosmetic landscaping, or structural work. The current NDIS pricing schedule sets the hourly rate for gardening and yard maintenance at between $54.30 and $65.47 in metropolitan areas, charged hourly rather than as a flat fee. Providers must itemise services on invoices for plan-managed and self-managed participants.
“The gap we see most often is participants who have a funded plan and a genuine functional need, but who have not had garden maintenance included because the connection between outdoor access and daily living was not clearly made at their planning meeting. An overgrown front path that a participant cannot safely navigate in a wheelchair is not a garden problem. It is an access problem, and it belongs in the plan. We work with plan managers to document the functional barrier clearly so the claim is straightforward to process,” said Lukas James, founder of Must Have Maintenance.
Must Have Maintenance provides garden maintenance to NDIS participants across Melbourne’s eastern and south-eastern suburbs as a registered Home Help Services Provider. The company also holds WorkSafe and TAC Services Provider approvals and operates seven days a week.
About us:
About Must Have Maintenance
Founded in 2018, Must Have Maintenance provides garden and lawn maintenance services to homes and businesses across Melbourne. The company completes more than 15,000 jobs per year, holds a 4.8-star Google rating from 109 reviews, and is an approved NDIS Home Help Services Provider and WorkSafe and TAC Services Provider.
